Metro Riders on the Closure of Reagan Airport Station Over Holiday Weekend

It is unbelievable that Metro is doing this. When I heard the news, I laughed because I thought what I'd heard couldn't be; it would be such a ridiculous move on Metro's part, but it was TRUE! lol
And I don't ever remember a station being closed on a weekend (let alone a Holiday one) for "Maintenance". I guess now before I head off for the airport at 6am in the morning to catch a flight, I'll have to make sure the station will be open.

Metro said the stations will close beginning Friday night, but they were in fact closed Thursday night. Last night my blue line train ended at Rosslyn and passengers were bussed to Pentagon and Pentagon City, where I got off.

Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day is six weeks away. Ridership would have been lower and practically nonexistent on Monday. What a bunch of worthless, braindead morons at Metro. Thank goodness I'm flying out of BWI on Sunday.

"Columbus Day ... is six weeks away. Ridership would have been lower and practically nonexistent on Monday."

Considering that the vast majority of non-government businesses are open on Columbus Day, that would be a far more unpalatable move for them than closing this weekend, as the majority of non-retail businesses are closed on Labor Day.

If you work in the private sector, Columbus Day is a great way to get an appreciation for just how large the government workforce is in the DC area. Traffic isn't as light on Columbus Day as it is during the week between Christmas and New Year's, but it's still fairly wide-open on the roads that day.

Gosh what a bunch of whiners! It's not like there is no service to Reagan, there will still be shuttle bus service. Stop being a snob and looking down your nose at having to take a bus.

Having dealt with no red line service to multiple stations on the eastern side of the red line for the past couple of WEEKS the shuttles really aren't that bad. Yes, you will probably have to add 30 minutes time to your trip, but you will get there. If your time is so precious that you can't spend that, take a cab. There are many options so stop freaking out!

Apparently metro is damned if they do and damned if they don't. Maintanence needs to be done or else we will continue to see breakdowns, derailments and crashes within this ageing system.

I do think it would be a good idea for metro to set up direct shuttles to and from the airport from either the Pentagon Station or from a station downtown (Archives/Navy Memorial Station perhaps). They run a route (13G) early on the weekends before the metro is usually open that would probably be easy to put into use for the whole weekend. That route has stops at Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, and Archives. Anyway I can make this suggestion to metro?

Relying on the Metrorail to get you to Reagan for a 7 AM flight, especially on a weekend, is a risky proposition regardless of whether there are station closures or single-tracking areas, given that a 7 AM flight means getting to the airport even earlier than that.

Reading WMATA's News Release dated 9/3 they state: “By completing this work during the Labor Day holiday weekend, we will save more than $1 million in late-night maintenance costs that would have resulted in 150 days of single-tracking,” said Gerald C. Francis, Metro’s Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. “People can still take Metro to get where they want to go. It will just take a bit longer to get there.”

Being a Red Line passenger with Silver Spring as my home station I totally support closing a station for 3 days on a holiday weekend were "Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority officials confirmed that Labor Day weekend is traditionally not a busy time for air travel." (WMATA release dated 9/3) then have to go thru 150 days for single tracking. Also the 3 day closing saves 1 million dollars.

Max231, obviously you know nothing about the metro system. You wouldn't be able to take metro to Reagan for a 7am flight on a weekend anyway as metro does not open until 7am on the weekends (and holidays as they run sunday schedules). The first metro train from the city does not even arrive at Reagan until 7:30am on the weekends. Next time, I would suggest being better informed before you attack me with poor arguments and even poorer typing skills.